DAVID MOYES has suggested “everyone in the Premier League” could take a 20% pay cut to make football more affordable for fans.

DAVID MOYES has suggested “everyone in the Premier League” could take a 20% pay cut to make football more affordable for fans.

The Everton boss believes top-level clubs have a responsibility to safeguard the long-term future of a game beset by financial problems of late.

With rising ticket costs pricing out many supporters, and with clubs such as Rangers, Portsmouth and Port Vale on the brink of insolvency due to excessive spending, Moyes believes a blanket pay cut across English football's elite level would help make watching football easier for “the ordinary fan”.

Moyes said: "Perhaps the suggestion would cause some mayhem.

"People might say it'd be harder to attract players but we have to take responsibility for the long-term health of football.

"Everyone in the Premier League (should) take a 20% pay cut to put football finances back on an even keel and allow a significant reduction in ticket prices to make football more affordable for the ordinary fan.

"We should be filling all the grounds all the time.

"Clubs have to control their money properly and only pay what they can actually afford. People have to be held responsible when things go wrong.

"Every family in the country at the moment has to finance correctly. They can't overspend. Why is football different?

"Football's been around for 150 years and it has come a long way, but we have to make sure we don't take it away from its roots. We must not get too far away from people.”